Bare soil releases carbon instead of storing it (due to soil erosion, see How Much Carbon Can Soil Store). We have to reverse desertification.
I used to think that planting trees was the only solution to desertification, but after watching the following videos I realised I was wrong.
Restoring different environments requires different approaches.
Cattle can also be used to reclaim land, making it possible to grow crops (and/or trees) on what was semi-arid land.
Here is the TED talk to which Savory referred to in the video above. How to green the world's deserts and reverse climate change
Anyone who really cares about the environment should consider the approaches above and the approaches in this playlist. See here.
Some attempts to save the environment do more harm than good. Solar panels on buildings is a good thing, but when they destroy vast areas of vegetation, they are not.
According to WHO (the World Health Organisation), 7 million people die annually from air pollution. That is one reason why some climate scientists are beginning to re-examine nuclear. (And some countries are embracing it in a big way, particularly Japan.)
We must weigh up the costs of using nuclear power against the cost of not using it.1
It will be men like Elon Musk who save the environment, not government programs.2 But we must let them do it without government subsidies. See the video below.3 If you want to see how effective the government is at taking care of the environment, watch The Planet of the Humans.
The following may be a solution to the problems rasied in the video above.
Innovation is the key to solving environmental problems, not population control.
There is a high demand for environmentally friendly products; we must let the free market do its thing. If you destroy the economy through high taxes and over regulation4 you will destroy innovation, and with it, the environment. (For examples of how the government undermines innovation and creates problems see The Government Against the Economy by George Reisman.)
1. There is much dishonesty regarding the cost of nuclear power. See More misinformation from CSIRO on Nuclear (see also James Hansen & Michael Shellenberger: Nuclear Power? Are Renewables Enough?) Some environmentalists believe that we should be less concerned about carbon dioxide and more concerned about other pollutants, as carbon dioxide helps plant growth (see Dr Patrick Moore on Carbon Dioxide and Plant Growth).
2. Government inefficiency does great harm to the environment. Governments all over the world are very wasteful—far more wasteful than the private sector. See Milton Friedman: Private Vs. Public Sector.
3. Given our future energy requirement’s, it is no surprise that some environmentalists are so radical. See Jeff Bezos' Mega-Yacht
4. Some regulation is necessary.